calories earned

babs72
babs72 Posts: 5 Member
edited December 2024 in Getting Started
hi I'm new to MFP and I have just been reading a couple of threads on here. I'm confused. if i have earned extra calories why do i need to use them. surely they are there to show how much I have burnt and then if I stick to 1200 I will lose weight. I hope this makes sense. I'm really confused now.

Replies

  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    The calories mfp gives you include your deficit to lose weight anything over that just makes your deficit bigger which is not always a good thing mfp expects you to log and eat back at least a portion of the calories you earn. A portion because they can be inflated most start with 50% and adjust accordingly
  • pacsnc6
    pacsnc6 Posts: 978 Member
    If you think of calories as fuel for your body - you need to replenish what you use or you will run out.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    why eating too little is a bad idea (even if you lose faster):

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1
  • rdthoms
    rdthoms Posts: 61 Member
    You should eat back *some* of your exercise calories especially if you are shooting for such a low (1200 calorie) net. Consider it some reward for your hard work in the gym! But I think sometimes those exercise calories are inflated so probably no more than half.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    1200 calories (unless you're a very short, elderly, sedentary female) is already pushing the boundaries of sustainable calorie intake. Add in the calories burned by activity and your calorie deficit is very likely excessive and can lead to physical problems (brittle nails, hair loss, loss of muscle mass).

    An excessive calorie deficit also means that you're very likely setting yourself up for binges that will blow your calorie intake out beyond that of a more sensible and appropriate calorie intake.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,679 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    1200 calories (unless you're a very short, elderly, sedentary female) is already pushing the boundaries of sustainable calorie intake. Add in the calories burned by activity and your calorie deficit is very likely excessive and can lead to physical problems (brittle nails, hair loss, loss of muscle mass).

    An excessive calorie deficit also means that you're very likely setting yourself up for binges that will blow your calorie intake out beyond that of a more sensible and appropriate calorie intake.

    Eat your exercise calories.

    I'm a short-ish (5'5"), elderly-ish (63 y/o), sedentary (outside of intentional exercise), female . . . and a consistent 1200 daily calories - even if I ate back all exercise calories - would put me in the hospital incapacitated in less than a year. (In theory, it'd get me from my current 135 to 52 pounds in 365 days, but I'm pretty sure I'd die before that.)

    This is a good read: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

    Give it some thought.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited March 2019
    Since the 1200 calorie part has already been covered, I'll talk about earned calories. The way the MFP calculator works is different from most calculators you see out there. Some calculators would include exercise calories as part of your diet so you don't have to eat them back. MFP, however, doesn't count them in until you add them, then adjusts the calories you need to eat. If you eat 1200 calories, then exercise for 400 without eating at least some of them back, your net calories would be effectively 800. Do you think 800 calories sounds healthy?

    Here's a video you might find useful:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
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